I want to talk about the importance of communicating in a technical and non-technical way.

If you’re planning to progress in your software development career, then you need to develop your communication skills.

No matter if you’re a software developer, game developer, technical manager, or a consultant; It is crucial for you to be able to communicate with others around you in the workspace. In a normal job, you’re going to be communicating with people that understand the technical side of your job and others that have no technical background.

For example, in the game industry, you may be a software developer or a game developer and one moment you’re talking to a technical manager or another developer about a bug your fixing in a game mechanic, but then suddenly you’re asked to go over to the art team and request assets. You can’t expect the creative team to always have a technical background, and therefore, it’s your job to be able to communicate the exact art asset needs to their team so that they have an understanding of what they need to make and deliver to you.

Another great example comes from the consulting world. In consulting, your job is not only to work with technical folks but it’s to analyze problems that the non-technical individuals may be encountering but unable to articulate. In these cases, you need to be able to analyze a problem by communicating at a non-technical level so that the stakeholders are able to provide you with their viewpoints and you can at a later time take that information and create a solution to fix the problems.

What I’m trying to emphasize with both these examples is that being able to communicate well is an important skill to develop throughout your career. If you’re finding yourself in a situation where you avoid interacting with people that are either too technical or on the opposite side, with people that are non-technical, then you should reconsider the motives behind your actions. 

When working in collaborative environments it’s normally the individuals that try include others as part of the team that progresses into higher responsibility and greater paying roles. And the reason these people are so valuable is that they create an environment that promotes collaboration and drives production. 

If you’ve ever been in an environment where there is a clear lack of communication between the various departments, then you’ll know that it can drive a company into the ground. One department or team becomes a silo of information, and this can cause a negative ripple effect that drives company morale and finances downwards.

So, how could you become a better communicator?

If you are a developer or a technical manager, then one of the best ways to improve upon your communication skills is to step out of your comfort zone and try to share your technical knowledge in a simpler way. I like to imagine I’m back in college trying to figure out what in the world my professor was talking about when using technical terminology that I hadn’t learned yet. Remembering back to those days, someone in the class would ask for clarification or we don’t all leave lecture confused and try to look up the terminology. By stepping out of your comfort zone and just trying to talk about your daily work with another individual that’s perhaps less technical, you’ll quickly learn about your communication deficit. 

Nevertheless, If you have any questions about how you can improve your communication or if you’re looking for some mentoring or coaching advice, then feel free to reach out to us.

If you are looking for consulting help, then feel free to reach out to us at Edge Technovations LLC where we specialize in Consulting and Bespoke Technology Development.